Mijas - an ancient mountain village

From the II Century BC. and onward, the arrival of the roman influences can be seen, culminating in the first centuries of our era.

In relation to the commercial and military needs of the Romans a great amount of communication routes were built to allow a quick and sure way of contact between the zones of the roman empire, which were far and wide. One of these routes, mentioned in the Itinerary of Antonino, (compilation of roads from the Roman Empire that dates back to the end of the III century), joins Malaca (Malaga) and Gades (Cadiz), crossing through the land of Mijas. This route, not only communicated these two large roman cities, but also served to connect many other smaller populations and condition the territory through which it passed.

In Mijas, the archaeological remains that have been found confirm the existence of the roman city of Suel, possible successor of the Iberian-Punic City that was formed after the arrival of the Phoenicians. The big buildings of this city, such as the temples, the forum, theatre, etc., have still not been found, but they are believed to have been situated, according to some writers, between the outlet of the Fuengirola river and the Cortijo de la Alberquilla, on the right edge of the river, where the settlements of the Finca de Acebedo and the roman town El Chaparral can be found.

Other ancient writers, such as Plinio, situated between Suel and Marbella the place called Salduba. In the same way, Martín de Roa pointed out in 1622 "... and today appears, two leagues ahead (from Suel), towards Marbella, ancient remains of a grand place, where Salduba could have been", remains which were also mentioned by Macario Fariñas in the same century. In 1782, Medina Conde wrote that Osunilla could have been the Iberian-Roman City of Auxunoba. Also, certain authors have pointed out that Mijas was the ancient Tamisa, but this hypothesis isn’t contrasted by the archaeology or the epigraphy and has its origin in the reading of Medieval Arabic texts where the existence of a castle called Tamilla is mentioned in the Malaga Dale and which modern authors such as Fariñas del Corral link with Mijas.

Another roman writer, Rufo Festo Avieno in his book Ora Marítima, based on quotations from ancient writers, maybe Greek from the I century BC., made a description of the southern peninsula coasts and mentioned the Lugum (cape or headland) Barbetium, which has been identified as the Punta de Calaburras.

Alongside the roman routes, rural and commercial towns were developed, of which there is evidence in the roman tile work of Haza del Algarrobo and the town of Butibamba, along with the aforementioned town of Finca Acebedo. During this era there was an important exploitation of marble from the Mijas mountain range.

The roman population in Mijas are identified by the findings of roman ceramics (terra sigillata) and coins in different areas of the district (Osunilla, Mijas and El Olivar) dated back to the times of Octavio Augusto (I century BC. – I century AC.) up until the end of the IV century of our era.

The roman world fell apart after the invasions from Central-European populations, who finished with the roman administration and caused the breakdown of the commerce and consequently the towns related to it, which surely provoked the decline of the urban structure of Suel, whose population most likely fled due to the lack of security provided by the flat lands close to the sea, moving to higher and safer areas of the actual Mijas.

Copy from Mijas homepage www.mijas.es